The Moon is in the Trees

I am just returning from five days at Menla Mountain Retreat and Conference Center where I stepped out of my everyday life and into a process that brought me closer to myself. The moment by moment unfolding – leaves falling from trees, water rushing over rocks, the moon in the trees, our thoughts and feelings as the ebb and flow through the day – becomes the focus. We deepen our capacity to rest in our days – to feel the natural support of the environment and the presence of life around us as it grows and decays in its own rhythm. Our busy days preoccupy us – and draw our attenion. Retreat sllows us to reclaim our knowing of the quality of being – and support us in relaxing into that quality. We are shaped both by the natural world on retreat and the human community. In slowing down and reconnecting, we are able to offer and receive more of ourselves – and each other. Our exchanges are richer and deeper. Modern neuroscience can document the mirroring quality that contact with another nourishes. We are literally reshaping ourselves and each other through resonance and contact. Both greater ease and deep reconfiguring of a relational structure is real as we relax into a slower, more attentive rhythm with each other.

In this retreat at Menla Mountain, I joined other mindfulness teachers to reflect and collaborate on how to support others in stepping into deeper connection with their minds and bodies through present moment awareness and mindfulness. In these days, we became a container of support for each other’s growth and learning. We inspired each other to remember what we already know. The moon shining through the trees is at ease. That ease is ours to know and live from in our often complex, modern lives. It is too important to forget. Pass it on.

Karen Beetle

One Response

A sweet old woman with the most beautiful smile, once told me I should not–as is often recommended–live each day as if it were my last.
This ill-advised approach, she explained, would likely cause me to waste precious time attempting to make up for the past.
She counseled, instead: “Live the gift that is a day, as if it were your first–and only!”

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